Ukrainian drones smashed into high-rise apartment blocks and hit parking lots on the outskirts of Moscow in the early hours of Tuesday, with both sides saying it was the largest attack on the Russian capital of the three-year-conflict.
The Kremlin condemned the attack, which came hours before top US and Ukrainian officials sat down for talks in Saudi Arabia and after three years of Russian aerial barrages on Ukrainian cities.
The attack killed three people, Russian officials said.
Kyiv said the strikes should push Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept its call for a halt to long-range aerial strikes, a proposal Moscow has previously ruled out.
Ukrainian and US diplomats were meeting for talks on ending the conflict, with Kyiv saying it would try to get Washington — which has resumed talks with Moscow under President Donald Trump — on board with the idea.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced Kyiv targeting “residential houses”, claiming Russia’s own forces only hit military infrastructure, despite near daily attacks on Ukraine’s civilian areas and thousands of Ukrainian civilians killed by its offensive.
Moscow’s army said it intercepted 343 Ukrainian drones with some falling on “residential and economic infrastructure”.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called it the “most massive enemy drone attack on Moscow”.
At the site of one attack, AFP journalists saw holes on the upper floors of an apartment block and broken glass and debris strewn across the asphalt.
The drones hit areas surrounding Moscow, including Ramenskoye that is home to an air base, and an area near Moscow’s Domodedovo airport.